New policy targets student lunch debt in Saugus

The School Committee is cracking down on outstanding student lunch debts with an unlikely weapon – cheese sandwiches.

Under a newly approved policy, Saugus Public Schools students that owe lunch money above a certain threshold will be denied a hot lunch and will instead receive a cheese sandwich, milk, vegetable and fruit.

The policy is a response to a ballooning food service deficit in the School Department, which School Committee members hope to address by implementing recommendations included in a recent report by the New England School Development Council.

A portion of the food service deficit, which now exceeds $100,000, stems from kids not paying for their lunches.

In April, Executive Director of Finance & Administration Pola Andrews said SPS students had left a total of $22,000 in lunch fees unpaid. A collection agency hired by the district in November 2015 was able to recover just $4,000 from families with outstanding balances – the approximate cost of the agency’s fee.

School Committee member Arthur Grabowski, who proposed the policy, said that the School Committee and Superintendent of Schools Dr. David DeRuosi are “serious” about correcting issues with the food service program.

“We have people who don’t respond to emails and phone calls and continue to send their kids to school thinking someone else will pick up the tab,” Grabowski said. “That’s not right.”

Policy rules

Elementary school students will be allowed to charge five meals to their account before being served the “designated meal alternate” – a cheese sandwich. Middle and high school students will be allowed to charge two meals before being served the alternate meal.

Students who receive a free lunch will not be allowed to have a negative account balance at all, while students who received lunch at a reduced rate will be allowed to charge five meals without paying before getting the alternate meal.

The consequences of not paying a school lunch tab range from penalty fees to a Department of Children and Families (DCF) referral.

Grabowski said large outstanding balances could indicate a problem at home and the need for state intervention.

“If you keep sending the kid to school without lunch money, the child could be in need of services,” Grabowski said. “You’re not providing for your kid’s lunch, so what’s going on?”

Students with outstanding balances over the limit will also be barred from participating in fee-based programs, like sports teams. Seniors who owe lunch money will not be allowed to participate in senior activities or graduation ceremonies and will not receive a cap and gown until balances are settled.

SPS policies preventing students who owe lunch money from participating in fee-based programs and activities were never enforced in the past, Grabowski said.

“Now we have to get tough,” Grabowski said.

Dignity and discretion

The policy dictates that students who owe lunch money will be treated with dignity and discretion and that staff will “make every attempt to protect the privacy of the student.”

But Grabowski acknowledged that students will still have to sit down at the lunch table with their “designated meal alternate.”

“There’s nothing else we can do,” Grabowski said. “We’re in such dire straits with the school lunch program that we have to take some action. We’re not trying to hurt anyone. A lot of this policy was taken from other schools’ policies.”

End of the line

One longstanding issue that was not addressed in the policy is the organization of the lunch line and when students pay for their meals.

Committee members have criticized the system in the past, saying by the time students get to the cash register where an outstanding balance can be identified they have already received a hot meal.

Grabowski said that DeRuosi, school principals and food service personnel will be in charge of ensuring the new policy is carried out.

“We have a new superintendent who’s had experience with this,” Grabowski said. “We’re going after the situation.”